The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a system and method for measuring static pressure inside a device.
Measurement of combustor pressure drop is an important variable for accurate gas turbine performance estimation and engine health monitoring. This information can be used to estimate the core flow through the combustor, which aids in the determination of secondary flow rates. Additionally, combustor pressure drop measurement can be used to monitor the health of the combustor.
Currently, a measurement of the pressure entering the combustor is part of the standard instrumentation for a gas turbine, but pressure measurements inside the combustor are not standard, therefore pressure drop across the combustor cannot be calculated on most fielded units.
Additionally, when internal pressure instrumentation is installed today, significant changes must be made to the combustor liner wall to accept the instrumentation probe. These changes include drilling a hole in the liner wall and welding a ferule/retainer to the liner. The addition of these features results in air being diverted from the combustion zone to the instrumentation location for: 1) cooling the weld for the ferule and 2) the leakage that results between the ferule/retainer and the pressure probe. Both the loss of air in the combustion zone and the increased cost of these design features are negatives that should be avoided.
Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to measure the static pressure inside a component of a gas turbine with minimal cost impact. Further, it is desirable to be able to measure the static pressure inside a component of a gas turbine without compromising the integrity of the component/gas turbine design.